Kismet Arts Tangent

FAQ: What is a style tile?

My newest client is currently using a Template at Yahoo Web Hosting. It’s typographic limitations, stock-photo images and unimaginative swashes makes it look like it hasn’t had enough attention.

The website is for a Collaborative Divorce service, so I want it to look friendly, warm and professional, a solace for the maritally troubled, hence the warm color palate. I found this great photograph of the Puget Sound in my photographer-friend’s library. He’s allowed me to use it. I created the logo, as well. I used a modern typeface for the main part to convey a sense of “no stuffy-legal-b.s.” that a serif-ed font might convey. I used Baskerville to connote a sense of professionalism and history for the location word “Kitsap” (as in Kitsap County). The textures in the style tiles are really subtle (as they should be considering I got them from Subtle Patterns). They are very conservative– linen, paper and white paperboard.

Mike’s Tutoring Website. I had a heck of a time with my ErrorDocument (htaccess). A simple linking error caused me so much frustration because I had no idea what to do. The error pages are never helpful. (Below: What came up when I tried to check the link for my custom error page.) Turns out it was a simple addition of a server file name. Mike of Mike’s tutoring was really helpful in pointing out my mistake and telling me the best way to link up my html. (The Internet will offer you an array of choices!)

I linked my header instead of my logo image. That was a bit troublesome. I’m so tired.

(Earlier Post Relating to This Project)

Mike’s Tutoring Website. When I added the pages, I changed the design once again. I realized that since each of the layouts for the pages are almost identical to the home page, I would need a slightly more obvious indication that the user sucessfully clicked through to the next page. This is where the blue frame also makes more sense because when I integrate it when the nav bar, it has a function.

I realize also that these  kinds of changes can be better avoided by sketching beforehand. But, hey, I’m still learning the order of things. Sometimes, people (like me) want to skip the sketch phase to feel like they are getting something done and up into testing.

Something that they teach you in design school: every feature should have some kind of function. I’ve seen more than a few students humiliated in front of the class during critique because the instructor asked the most feared question: why?

I felt a huge sense of accomplishment by added this “tab” styling. The part where the sprite (image) for the navigation bar goes away and html styled text is revealed. Times like that is when I feel like I am truly building something. With design in general, these software programs (InDesign, Illlustrator and Photoshop) offer layers, but in a way, I feel like it’s a crutch for designing things that align. In the case of web design, with the tools of CSS and html, I feel like there are layers that function. When you peel away the CSS, there’s something that still works. It’s kind of like an escalator that breaks down. You still have stairs.*

*Mitch Hedgeburg joke: “An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience. ”

(Earlier Post Relating to This Project)

Mike’s Tutoring Website. I changed the design today. I realized that the footer bar wasn’t doing anything for me and I didn’t really want to put a “copyright notice on this. I also stylized the mobile version today. To decrease loading time and increase readability (and so I didn’t have to design bigger buttons) I ditched the CSS sprites for plain html for my navigation bar. It breaks up into a list-nav. The design turns into a one-column layout.  I’m still working on getting the dimensions perfect on the mobile layout and I haven’t finessed the tablet layout either, so that will be my next step before I apply it to my pages. (I’ll  be making more pages, too.) I’m ready for the weekend!

(Earlier Post Relating to This Project)